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What Causes Pain In Left Maxillary Sinus Area
Posted on
Thu, 12 Mar 2015
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Thu, 12 Mar 2015
Answered on
Wed, 1 Apr 2015
Last reviewed on
Question : I play in a men's recreational hockey league. The games are all late at night and I do wear a helmet with a full face cage. The morning after the last three games I woke with pain in my left maxillary sinus area. The pain goes away throughout the day. And I don't have any pain on the mornings where I did not play hockey the night before. My thoughts are that it has something to do with exercising and exerting myself in an ice rink where it's cold with low humidity. Or maybe my helmet is too tight and pressing on a certain area of the head tied to the maxillary sinus area? Do you have any ideas of why I have this pain the morning after playing hockey? Thanks for your help.
Brief Answer:
Maxillary sinusitis...
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for posting the query
After going through the history, I do feel you could be suffering from maxillary sinusitis.
One of the commonest causes of the sinusitis is exposure to cold. As you are playing ice hockey, the cold temperature could be inducing blockage of the sinus and creating negative pressure inside the sinuses. The negative pressure thus induced causes headache and facial pain. The pain is usually noticed during the morning hours because of the increased blood flow to the head end in supine position, thus worsening the sinus block.
The sinusitis has to be confirmed with the x-ray of the paranasal sinuses. I doubt any pressure related changes because of the helmet.
Meanwhile, you can try the following measures:
1. Drink plenty of warm water.
2. Do steam inhalation after playing. Steam reduces the nasal congestion and opens the blocked sinuses.
3. Avoid chilled food and beverages/smoking and coffee, using any of these can worsen the sinus blockage.
Hope I have answered your query; I will be available for the follow-up queries.
Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N.
ENT and Head & Neck SUrgeon
Maxillary sinusitis...
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for posting the query
After going through the history, I do feel you could be suffering from maxillary sinusitis.
One of the commonest causes of the sinusitis is exposure to cold. As you are playing ice hockey, the cold temperature could be inducing blockage of the sinus and creating negative pressure inside the sinuses. The negative pressure thus induced causes headache and facial pain. The pain is usually noticed during the morning hours because of the increased blood flow to the head end in supine position, thus worsening the sinus block.
The sinusitis has to be confirmed with the x-ray of the paranasal sinuses. I doubt any pressure related changes because of the helmet.
Meanwhile, you can try the following measures:
1. Drink plenty of warm water.
2. Do steam inhalation after playing. Steam reduces the nasal congestion and opens the blocked sinuses.
3. Avoid chilled food and beverages/smoking and coffee, using any of these can worsen the sinus blockage.
Hope I have answered your query; I will be available for the follow-up queries.
Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N.
ENT and Head & Neck SUrgeon
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Pradeep Vitta
Answered by
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